Anyone else been ear-molested by these awful ads lately? They used to be all over the radio a few years ago, mercifully disappeared for a while, and are now back worse than ever. They always use the fake-caller tactic (does that even work on people, by the way?) where the "testimonials" sound as though someone has called in from their phone and recorded a message praising this product. They could be actual telephone messages, though I doubt it. There's not even an announcer to be found in the ads, just these "phoney" (hyuck, hyuck) "phone call" clips.

Each ad is essentially just a barrage of these "testimonial" people raving about how their dog doesn't smell anymore, doesn't chew and chew and chew, has a shiny coat, looks like a puppy again, etc., but the "testimonials" are not complete sentences in most cases - just snippets of sentences played at a manic pace. It's kind of overwhelming and unsettling. The absolute WORST thing about these ads is the soundbite of some woman saying "D-I-N-O-V-I-T-E . COM" with the sound of a dog barking once in the background (probably pasted in and not her actual dog,) as if to emphasize her nails-on-a-chalkboard reading of the website address. She has this horribly loathsome air of self-satisfaction when she says it, as though she's really letting you know, and you are no doubt extremely impressed with the fact that she can spell the name of the website she was paid $4.53 to shill for on the radio. They never let one of these horrific ads play without playing her "message" twice. Usually one in the middle of the ad, and almost always closing with her insipid spelling demonstration.

Makes me want to grab the nearest power tool and insert into my ear every night when I'm working in the garage and trying to catch some late-night kook talk radio.

Do people actually call hotlines to give product testimonials? This seems to be a very popular technique withy advertisers, but I don't think it happens in real life. It always reminds me of hose Goldbond commercials they used to play in the 90s.

I'd be curious to know if these were actual people who had used the product and were paid afterwards to do the ads or if they're just paid actors.

Do people actually call hotlines to give product testimonials? This seems to be a very popular technique withy advertisers, but I don't think it happens in real life. It always reminds me of hose Goldbond commercials they used to play in the 90s.

I'd be curious to know if these were actual people who had used the product and were paid afterwards to do the ads or if they're just paid actors.

Pure speculation on my part, but I highly doubt that they really set up hotlines for testimonials. It's way easier and cheaper to bring in Nancy from Accounting, stick a mic in her face, throw a quick telephone-effect filter over the audio in ProTools, and then bring in Gary from Marketing, and so on. Though there might be some companies that do take calls, it'd probably just get expensive, and if there's one thing that these eardrum rapists don't seem to put money into, it's the quality of their ads (as well as their products in most cases.)

That also reminds me of those insulting-to-my-intelligence fake phone calls that radio stations, especially large nationwide chains, paste into the audio for their station identification spots. They always sound so chipper and happy, as if they got a chance to call into their favorite station and they're going to put them on the air. Yeah right - those days are LONG gone.

They all sound something like these: "They play ALL the latest hits," "This is my FAVORITE station," "Less talk, more VARIETY," and "I am a fake caller who's getting one over on you by making you think I called a hotline and they are playing my voice on the radio in a lazy, half-assed attempt to make it seem like our programming is an intimate experience a la the pre-1996 days, you know, back when there were decent radio personalities that you actually wanted to listen to in between songs and breaks, and you'd maybe even call them up once in a while during commercial breaks just to shoot the sh*t, because they enjoyed their jobs and liked being connected to their listeners. WOOO!" Okay, I admit that I made the last one up.

Funny how the "callers" never seem to actually mention the station by name; they leave that to the voiceover guy to say the call letters/genre/slogan. I know it's not a crime or anything, but for F's sake, it's like an open-palmed slap directly to my brain. It seems that the broadcasters are going for a subliminal effect -- they're not flat-out lying to you per se, more like lying by omission. They're definitely doing it to give you the false impression that they took callers to rant and rave about how much they love the station without actually having callers dial in and tell you how much they love the station. Why? Because no one enjoys their radio stations like they used to, or at least very few do. Sad part is, this gimmick probably works on most listeners in the way that they get the "hype" feeling without the broadcasters having to work for it. But we CIH members are smarter than that, right? I can't be the only one annoyed by this, I hope.

I guess it wouldn't bother me so much had radio not taken a really nasty turn for the worse in the late 90s, when the airwaves got deregulated and most of the mom-and-pop stations got gobbled up by Cumulus and Clear Channel. There used to be some great stations out there. Anyone from Northeast Ohio here remember 107.9 - The End? Now THAT was radio.

Sorry to be so wordy. If I'm this cynical now in my 30s, I really don't want to know what kind of curmudgeon I'll be in my 50s and 60s.

Exactly, and so much word. They could at least work on being more realistic. They always talk in commercials like no one would actually talk in real life about a product. I used to call radio stations back when Nashville had my beloved Oldies 96.3, which was turned into Jack FM, but I don't ever remember getting that excited. I just asked the DJ to play my song and that was it.

I have never been so revolted at listening to a commercial. I've been listening to the radio for 20 years and it is the only commercial that makes me literally run to the volume knob and turn it all the way off. There is a lot to hate about this commercial. First, it's the people describing the disgusting health issues their pets suffer. It will make you want to vomit and you'll swear you can smell rank wet dog after it's been rolling around in some dead animal carcass. Second it's the people who are testifying themselves. You can't help but figure out that they are fake, and you can imagine the production setup were they actually have the person talk through a phone to capture their scripted testimonial. It's probably the friends and family of the people who work at the company. Third, for a product that is supposedly this good, you would think that it would just be sold at pet stores, Walmart, etc. and it wouldn't require an insanely annoying radio commercial.

Im getting sick and goddamn tired of their sh*tty radio ads. its a scam, and it might be dangerous to our animals. one pill doesnt cure a dog from common problem. this is for people who are just too lazy and cheap to take them to the vet. whoever thought of this product is one reason why the US being a big pill producing nation

Now wait a second. Calling this product a scam without trying it is ridiculous. I've used it on both of my dogs, and they are the healthiest and most happiest that they've ever been. It has to be used over a period of 90 days instead of a one time pill thing and it's a powder, not a pill. Do your research before you look like an idiot.

I created an account on this website just to express my disdain for this commercial.

Not only are the "testimonials" obviously fake, but most of them don't even make sense. Towards the middle of the commercial, all I hear are people through a garbled "cell phone" barking out words like "flax seeds" "omega 3 fatty acids" "alfalfa" "zinc" "the nutrients that are cooked out of most regular dog food" etc...

They don't even say that this product actually contains any of these supposedly important nutrients!

Oh, and have any of you heard the newer one with the old couple on the phone chanting "D I N O V I T E.COM" together... and laughing about it? They're supposed to sound like they are on cell phones, but they're both screeching out that annoying website together. I doubt they figured out how to conference call in the dinovite hotline on their cell phones so that they could talk at the same time.

That also reminds me of those insulting-to-my-intelligence fake phone calls that radio stations, especially large nationwide chains, paste into the audio for their station identification spots. They always sound so chipper and happy, as if they got a chance to call into their favorite station and they're going to put them on the air. Yeah right - those days are LONG gone.

Oh my God, YES. I thought I was the only one who noticed this. Our local classic rock station (Classic Rock 101.1 in the Upstate SC area) has a station identification/commercial, and they have a string of testimonials about the station that are obviously being read by actors or maybe even the station's employees; they just sound far too chipper and excited, and use language that you'd only use if you were reading a script written by a marketing department. It's so insulting to our intelligence. Do they really expect people to believe this?

I think I hear the same set of actors' faked-on-the-phone bawling and drawling the same inanities for both Dinovite for pets and some cure-all called "Texas Super Food" for people (which apparently has "Alfalfa!" in it - Wow!! Have some hay, folks - good for what ails ya!) We are getting barraged with ads for both products here and I can't stand it. Instant mute!

I think I hear the same set of actors' faked-on-the-phone bawling and drawling the same inanities for both Dinovite for pets and some cure-all called "Texas Super Food" for people (which apparently has "Alfalfa!" in it -

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